Andrew Lansley has called on the Government to launch a full public inquiry into the failings at Stafford Hospital, following the publication of the Francis report.

The Shadow Health Secretary said that the only way to finally eliminate the “culture of secrecy and fear” that pervaded the hospital was to look at the issues “with maximum transparency and openness”.

Andrew pointed out that the Conservatives told the Government last year that it needed to look at not just the failings at the hospital but also at the role played by the Strategic Health Authority, the Primary Care Trust and the Department of Health, and he added:

“It is not good enough that they have only chosen to investigate this now. Patients will be worried that the Government is still not doing all it can to ensure that these awful events are not repeated.”

*************************

Release of the Independent Inquiry Report into MSFT

The Inquiry chaired by Robert Francis QC will today 24th February 2010 publish its report into the care provided at the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between 2005 – 2009.  The Trust has received a copy of the report and the Board will consider its recommendations, as a matter of urgency, at a meeting to be held on Thursday 25th February.

Sir Stephen Moss, who took up the position of Chairman of the Trust in August 2009 said “The recommendations of the Inquiry come as no surprise to the Trust, as the evidence presented was clear and truthful about what the hospital was like.  We will consider whether the evidence relating to the behaviours of individuals requires further action to be taken.

“On behalf of the Trust I would like to apologise unreservedly for the harm and distress that people suffered during that time and thank those who spoke to the Inquiry.   Their courage in coming forward has helped us learn from the errors of the past and to make changes that have already improved our services”.

Antony Sumara, Chief Executive (from August 2009) said “Our staff are working tremendously hard to make things better and we are not complacent, recognising that we still have more to do.  We are determined to continue on our journey of improvement until we have achieved all that needs to be done to provide the care our patients and their families deserve.

“We have a new Board of Directors, the majority having joined the Trust within the last twelve months.  They are very keen to support and encourage our staff to continue this improvement but recognise that the report will make them reflect on the past.

“Our focus is on being relentless about putting our patients first and this is already making a difference to patient care in our hospitals”.

Some of the improvements that have been made since March 2008 include:

• Investing an additional £5 million into the nursing budget to fund the recruitment of 139 additional nurses to work in our hospitals.  (See note 1)
• Recruiting very visible clinical leaders in our new Ward Managers (See note 1) who work clinically alongside staff to improve standards and act as exemplars of good nursing practice.
• Gathering more views from patients on the quality of our services
• Revising our complaints procedure.
• Implementing a new staff induction programme and increasing training.
• Investing an additional £1. 5 million in 2009/10 to purchase new medical equipment including that recommended in the Healthcare Commission report.
• Significantly reducing hospital associated infections i.e. MRSA and Clostridium Difficile  (See note 2 for statistics)
• Significantly reduced Hospital Standardised Mortality Rates (HSMR) (See note 3 for statistics)
• Implementing new governance structures that focuses on accountability and responsibility
• Increasing the number of doctors involved in the management of the hospital through eight new clinical directorates.

Antony Sumara said “Our Trust Board is committed to improving patient care and safety and we have adopted an open and transparent culture which includes every Trust Board meeting being open to the public.(See note 4)

“We have established links with several community representatives and groups including Cure the NHS who are working with us to improve our services and helping in assessing our progress.

“Our vision for our hospitals is to provide an excellent, safe, and viable service for the population of Mid Staffordshire, working with our hospital partners and our local Primary Care Trust.

“As a Board our ambition is to hand back the ownership of our hospitals to the public of Mid Staffordshire”.

A helpline has been set up for anyone affected by the report – the telephone number is 0800 783 4310 .

***ENDS***

Issued by:    Press Office, Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust
Tel:                 07773 048641
Date:              24th February 2010

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

About Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust

• The Trust manages services at the following hospitals:
  • Stafford  Hospital
  • Cannock Chase Hospital
• Stafford Hospital has 360 beds for inpatients, a 24-hour Accident and Emergency Department, diagnostic and Outpatient facilities .
• Cannock Chase Hospital has 77 inpatient beds and comprehensive rehabilitation facilities, diagnostic and Outpatient facilities and a nurse-led Minor Injury Unit.
• The Trust provides medical and surgical healthcare services for the local population of over 300,000 people in Stafford, Cannock, Rugeley and surrounding areas. It also provides Rheumatology services to a wider population in Sutton Coldfield, Lichfield and Tamworth.

More information about the Trust can be found on www.midstaffs.nhs.uk

Note 1             Nursing

Ward Managers are the most senior nurse in charge of the Ward.

The additional £5 million has funded approximately 120 qualified nurses and 19 healthcare support workers, as well as cover for short term absences such as sick leave, training and annual leave.

We currently have 10 vacancies which we have not yet recruited to on our wards.  All unfilled vacancies on our wards are covered by either our own bank of staff or agency.

Note 2             Infection Control

MRSA Bacteraemia: In the current year (April 2009 to 18.2.2010) the Trust has had 3 cases of MRSA Bacteraemia against a target of no more than 12 cases by the end of March 2010. In the previous year, 08/09, there were 9 cases and in 07/08 there were 18 cases

Clostridium Difficile: In the current year (April 2009 to 18.2 2010) the Trust has had 34 cases of C Difficile against a target of no more than 100 cases by the end of March 2010. Last year (2008/09) there were 136 cases and in 07/08 there were 220.

Note 3             Mortality Rates

Mortality rates are calculated by an independent company, Dr Foster Intelligence, from routinely collected hospital data and are referred to as the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio (HSMR). The HSMR is calculated each month by Dr Fosters for each hospital in England.

The HSMR is calculated by dividing the actual number of deaths by the expected number of deaths, and multiplying this by 100.

Generally speaking an HSMR below 100 means that the trust had fewer deaths than would be expected, given the types of cases treated by the organisation. Trusts with a rate above 100 will have had more deaths than would be expected.

Past performance for the Trust

Year	2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009
HSMR	127	116	90.9

The most up to date information available to the Trust is shown below:

Mortality rates from all activity:

	Apr 09	May 09	June 09	July 09	Aug 09	Sept 09	Oct 09	Nov 09
Actual	58	79	60	58	49	66	62	58
Expected	72.5	87.6	76	81.6	69.1	84.9	78.1	79.9
HSMR	80	90.2	79	71.1	70.9	77.7	79.4	72.6

Note 4             Date of Next Board Meeting

Thursday 25th February 2010, Post Graduate Medical Centre, Stafford Hospital starting at 9.00am.

This meeting is held in public.   To ensure that we have sufficient space for members of the public and media it would be appreciated if you would call the Press Office if you are planning to attend.

Issue Date – 24 Feb 2010